Our Team

Natasha Nankivell

Partner and Founder

Natasha Nankivell is Partner and Founder of Global Alternative Funds.

Prior to founding Global Alternative Funds, Natasha was Managing Director and Global Partner at The Carlyle Group from 2011-2018.

During her time at The Carlyle Group Natasha was responsible for Carlyle’s relationships with Institutional and High Net Worth investors across Australia and New Zealand, working with her clients on portfolio development and investment opportunities across all alternative asset classes of private equity, private debt, infrastructure & energy and real estate.

Natasha joined The Carlyle Group from Macquarie Group where she was Executive Director and Head of Private Capital Markets for Asia.Over her career in investment banking which to date has spanned 30 years, Natasha has held senior positions at banks and other financial institutions. These include Challenger Financial Services, Merrill Lynch International and Bankers Trust.

Natasha is currently a Governor of the Board of Trustees and Investment Committee Member of the Centenary Institute and was previously Chair of Queensland Investment Corporation’s Private Capital Markets Investment Committee and a Council Member at the University of Wollongong.

Natasha has a Bachelor of Science in Pure and Applied Mathematics from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Peter Lyneham

Senior Adviser

Peter Lyneham is a Senior Adviser to Global Alternative Funds.

Previously, Peter was a Managing Director and founding member of Goldman Sachs’ Infrastructure Investment Group, having joined Goldman Sachs in 1999. He began his career with Goldman Sachs in Sydney and moved to London in 2004, where he was one of the three founding members of the Goldman Sachs infrastructure investing business within the firm’s Merchant Banking Division. Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners (now West Street Infrastructure Partners), managed approximately US$10 billion in infrastructure equity capital at the time of Peter’s departure at the end of 2016.

Peter sat on the Infrastructure Investment Group’s Investment Committee and on Goldman Sachs’ firmwide Physical Commodity Review Committee. He also sat on the boards of Associated British Ports, the UK’s largest port company, Redexis Gas, Spain’s second largest gas transmission and distribution business, and Elenia, Finland’s second largest electricity distribution and district heating company. Since leaving Goldman Sachs, Peter has continued to advise and invest his own capital alongside partners in both direct private investments and through alternative managers. Peter has a Bachelor of Commerce (First Class Honours, major in Finance) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Sacha Rowlands

Chief Financial & Operating Officer

Sacha Rowlands is Chief Financial and Operating Officer at Global Alternative Funds.

Sacha brings over 20 years of experience in accounting, tax and finance across big 4 and mid-tier advisory firms, having worked with a broad portfolio of clients across the investment industry which spans family office to top 10 ASX listed companies.

Sacha has worked closely with Global Alternative Funds, both as an external advisor and now in-house, to support the establishment of the GAF trusts, leveraging his breadth of experience across complex tax structuring issues, as well as risk and compliance management.

Prior to joining Global Alternative Funds, Sacha was a founding partner at Graystone Private, an accounting and tax advisory firm specialising in the funds management and private capital space.

Sacha’s earlier experience includes a tenure in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ corporate tax division within the financial services team. In this role, he focused on tax advisory and compliance matters within the investment and asset management sector, catering to key clients that included a number of Australia’s largest financial institutions and fund managers.

Sacha holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Masters of Taxation from the University of Sydney, Australia, and is a registered Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor.

Donna Willinge

Executive Director

Donna Willinge is an Executive Director at Global Alternative Funds.

Donna commenced her career at UBS investment Bank in Mergers and Acquisitions before joining the Private Placements Group of Macquarie Group where she was responsible for Macquarie’s relationships with institutional investors, in respect of investment opportunities across all asset classes and geographies.

Donna later formed part of the Private Capital Markets team at Macquarie Capital with responsibility for deal origination and advisory to institutional investors in Australia and Asia, with a focus on transaction selection, consortium formation and deal execution across various industry sectors.

Most recently, Donna co-founded the leading executive search firm JS Careers. As Founding Director and Head of Business Development, Donna was responsible for relationship management and providing strategic advice to leading global and domestic alternatives managers, institutional investors and investment banks.

Donna holds a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Laws with Distinction from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Grace Geary

Business Manager

Grace Geary is a Business Manager at Global Alternative Funds.